1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to apparatus for managing livestock and other horned animals and, more particularly, to a horn tipper for removing a selected portion of a horn of a horned animal.
2. Description of Related Art
Certain mammals such as cattle, sheep, goats and antelope have hard protuberances extending from the frontal bone of their skulls. These hard protuberances, generally referred to as horns, consist of a bony core covered with a sheath of keratinous material. Depending on the particular breed, horns are used for varied purposes including defense of self and offspring, domination of others and clearing heavy undergrowth, as well as many other purposes too numerous to discuss herein.
Many horned animals such as cattle and sheep are utilized for the production of foodstuffs such as meat and diary products. To maximize foodstuff production, such animals are often kept in close quarters with other foodstuff producing animals. When animals are kept in such close quarters, the horn becomes inconsistent with the safe and efficient management of such horned animals for the aforementioned foodstuff production. Dehorning, which is defined as the literal removal of the horns from cattle or other horned livestock, is intended to reduce the possibility of injury to both the horned animals being kept as well as any stockmen or herdsmen managing such animals. When kept in close quarters, any horned animal can severely cut or bruise other animals in the herd. Such injuries often reduce the value of the carcass for meat producing animals and reduce the rate of milk production for dairy producing animals. Furthermore, horned animals require more shed and feeding space, thereby reducing the efficiency of such operations. Finally, horned animals are harder and more dangerous to handle during routine management practices such as veterinary care.
There are numerous methods and devices which may be utilized to dehorn livestock. One method of dehorning, generally referred to as Barnes-type dehorning uses dehorners having a pair of pivoting cutting blades controlled by attached handles. Barnes-type dehorners of various designs may be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 441,065 to Green, 830,470 to Webster, 1,994,864 to Nisbet, 2,643,454 to Kuhns and 5,005,291 to Moore et al. Another type of popular dehorning device is the dehorning clipper. Typically, dehorning clippers includes a blade member having a toothed shaft extending from one end thereof. Dehorner clippers also include one, or more commonly, a pair of handles having respective toothed sections for interacting with the toothed shaft to force the blade member upward, thereby closing an aperture to sever the horn. Clipper type dehorners of various designs may be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 406,208 to Fugate, 438,959 to Steele, 448,092 to Stout, 472,139 to Newton, 480,146 to Brosius, 480,932 to Mills, 534,112 to Leavitt and 814,100 to Webster.
Despite the many advantages associated therewith, the dehorning of animals is not always a feasible technique for managing livestock. It is generally recognized that dehorning traumatizes the animal. For example, dehorning will often expose the sinus cavity within the head of the animal and/or cause a significant amount of bleeding. As a result, it is generally recommended that dehorning be performed as early as possible in an animal's life. Barnes-type dehorners are generally recommened for dehorning cattle between 4 and 12 months of age while dehorning clippers are viewed as the most efficient instrument for dehorning cattle between 1 and 2 years old. For older animals, dehorning is often not recommended. Seasonal considerations may also limit the availability of dehorning as a management technique. In general, dehorning is not recommended during fly season, extremely cold weather or hot weather. The open sinuses often produced during the dehorning process can lead to respiratory complications during extremely cold weather. The exposed sinus cavity and blood that often appear after dehorning also provide an ideal medium for parasite infestation, particularly during hot weather. Thus, the ideal times of the year for dehorning cattle and other livestock is in the spring before flies appear and in the fall, after flies disappear. Accordingly, it may often occur that when the animal is ready to be dehorned, it is the improper period of the year to perform the dehorning.
For these and other reasons, horn tipping, where only the tip or pointed end of the horn is removed, is often a desirable alternative to dehorning and is particularly well suited as a management technique for animals considered too old to be dehorned using the aforementioned techniques. By shortening the horn, horn tipping, like dehorning, will reduce the likelihood of injury in close quarters and the other ill effects which may result by leaving animals horned. However, as much less of the horn is removed during the tipping process, the animal will be significantly less traumatized by the process. While a number of the above-identified dehorners could conceivably be used as tippers by positioning the cutting member partway along the length of the horn so that only a portion of the horn is severed using the dehorners, such an attempt to tip horns using a dehorner could easily result in the removal of too much horn, thereby producing the very effects that tipping was intended to avoid.
It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide an apparatus for tipping a horn of a horned animal in which a selected portion of the horn may be severed without risk of the accidental removal of an excess amount of the horn.